Lacoste swaps its crocodile for logos of endangered species

PARIS — French fashion brand Lacoste on Wednesdayswapped the crocodile logo on its shirts for the first time in its history for10 of the most endangered species on the planet.

The green Lacoste crocodile – one of the world’s best-known logos – wasreplaced by the Sumatran tiger, the Javan rhino and the Cao Vit gibbon on thechest of its classic white polo shirts in a limited edition charity tie-in withthe Save Our Species conservation group.

All but a handful were sold out within hours of going on sale for 150 euros (US$183) immediately after the brand’s Paris fashion week show.

The number of polo shirts put on sale was directly linked to remainingnumbers of each threatened species surviving in the wild – with only 30 forvaquita porpoises and 231 for Californian condors.

Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista also included camouflaged images of eachof the endangered animals in the last 10 looks in his autumn-winter collection.

"I think it is a great thing to do, and feels very gratifying if we can dosomething for these animals," he said.

"Lacoste is one of the 10 more recognisable logos in the world withCoca-Cola and Apple."

The Portuguese designer said he had to be careful about using the crocodilelogo – which dates from 1933 – "with respect. I don’t like to plaster iteverywhere. Either you be very classic with it or very original, and in thiscase it’s quite original I think."

Lacoste’s crocodile logo still features on the back of the 1,775 shirts.

Oliveira Baptista said he took his inspiration for the main collection fromthe 50,000 trees the Lacoste family planted around their golf course atSaint-Jean-de-Luz in southwest France during World War II.

It was also a way of sparing local men from being sent to German forcedlabour camps, as forestry workers were exempt from conscription, he said.

The designer had Princess Diana and the English upper classes at play inmind when he began creating the collection, with some models wearingwellingtons with hunting ponchos and boonie sun hats on top of hoodies.

"I got inspired particularly by looking back at pictures of Lady Di: howshe wore clothes that were high and low at the same time," he added.

"I was looking for something timeless, something that would last more thansix months." — AFP